PASADENA – Police booked the mother of a 2-year-old boy and her live-in boyfriend on suspicion of murder Wednesday, a day after paramedics declared the boy dead inside the couple’s home.

Maria Palaez, 29, and her boyfriend Gabriel Diaz, 32, both of Pasadena, are being held in lieu of $1 million bail. No information on their initial court appearance was available.

Pasadena Police Department spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens said the arrests were based on the “suspicious nature of the (9-1-1) call” and what detectives discovered during their initial investigation Tuesday.

“Evidence was found that pointed to foul play,” she said. “Whether it was intentional or not, the child still died, and it is being investigated as a homicide.”

The coroner performed an autopsy Wednesday on Rene Torres but results will not be available until today, said Ed Winter, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

Palaez and Diaz each were being held on $1 million bail, Pope Givens said.

Palaez and Diaz live in a rear house at a property in the 500 block of Summit Avenue, where relatives expressed shock at the toddler’s death. A photo of Torres showed a smiling, thin child, with large brown eyes, dressed in an all-blue outfit with a matching cap.

“It’s still a mystery to us,” said Fatima Palaez, the boy’s aunt. “We’re in the dark, too. We’re waiting for the truth to come out.”

She said it was difficult to believe that her nephew, who turned 2 on Aug. 3, died.

“We heard someone screaming that he was dead. I didn’t believe it until I saw them taking his body out, wrapped in a blanket,” the aunt said.

Police said they got a 9-1-1 call early Tuesday morning from Maria Palaez, saying that her child was dead. Paramedics were unable to revive Rene and pronounced him dead at the home.

Pope Givens did not know whether the boy had been a client of the county Department of Children and Family Services, which has come under fire by county supervisors after the recent deaths of children under its care.

A DCFS spokeswoman said the department by law cannot identify the children in its care.

Givens said Rene “doesn’t appear to be” a client of DCFS, but added that police were still investigating whether there were any previous reports of child abuse lodged against Pelaez or Diaz.

The death is the sixth homicide in Pasadena this year, which leads San Gabriel Valley cities. (Homicide map)